Who has decided to take a summer staycation cruise?

[Snow Hill]

Given all the issues with insurance I am glad we didn’t book a Holiday at Sea in U.K. Waters

Edited April 6, 2021 by Snow Hill
Typo

[majortom10]

1 minute ago, Snow Hill said:

Given all the issues with insure I glad we didn’t book a Holiday at Sea in U.K. Waters

I wish we hadnt now.

 

[shopaholic6]

9 hours ago, Bertie Doe said:

Ah yes you're right, I ticked Spain, France etc, so Insure With Ease won't cover medical things in UK waters. Hmmm that's a real pain. I wonder why they (and others) do this?

I know it seems to be a real problem at the moment! Not sure why they will treat you if you are in, say, French waters and not UK! Surely there is no difference! 🤔

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, shopaholic6 said:

I know it seems to be a real problem at the moment! Not sure why they will treat you if you are in, say, French waters and not UK! Surely there is no difference! 🤔

Because the policy is designed for foreign holidays and a staycation cruise is not a foreign holiday.

 

The problem is they won't give a definitive answer why they won't pay for treatment in UK waters. After all the business model for travel insurance is not to pay out if possible.

 

Best to discuss these matters in the specific Insurance topic.

[Bertie Doe]

2 hours ago, shopaholic6 said:

I know it seems to be a real problem at the moment! Not sure why they will treat you if you are in, say, French waters and not UK! Surely there is no difference! 🤔

My 53 year old neighbour had a heart attack 3 weeks ago. He's very fit and after a stent implant, he's making a good recovery.

 

Had this happened on board ship, it may take a couple of hours to reach the nearest port. I'm not sure who would fund a pick-up by air, as both helicopter operations are either charity or voluntary service?

 

[MX-Drew]

23 minutes ago, Bertie Doe said:

My 53 year old neighbour had a heart attack 3 weeks ago. He's very fit and after a stent implant, he's making a good recovery.

 

Had this happened on board ship, it may take a couple of hours to reach the nearest port. I'm not sure who would fund a pick-up by air, as both helicopter operations are either charity or voluntary service?

 

The air ambulance (the charity) does not have the correct equipment or training to lift from a ship and the Air Sea Rescue (as far as I know are not volunteers) do have the training and equipment and again as far as I can find out do not charge for such an airlift. I do understand the French equivalent service do charge. 

[davecttr]

33 minutes ago, Bertie Doe said:

My 53 year old neighbour had a heart attack 3 weeks ago. He's very fit and after a stent implant, he's making a good recovery.

 

Had this happened on board ship, it may take a couple of hours to reach the nearest port. I'm not sure who would fund a pick-up by air, as both helicopter operations are either charity or voluntary service?

 

The  Maritime and Coastguard Agency control search and rescue helicopters which are privately owned and run but contracted to the MCA and bear the MCA colour scheme and logo. Those are the ones that would airlift you from the ship. If you are in a remote location etc etc ashore it would be an air ambulance which are I believe charity funded but don't have the equipment or training to do a winch lift from a ship.

 

The onboard medical team will decide on the best course of action and the patients needs should be paramount. A helicopter evacuation is the last resort as it is dangerous. I remember passengers complaining that the top decks were emptied and the upper deck cabins as well. Informing them that they really did not want to be engulfed by blazing fuel and wreckage if the helicopter crashed. It did not shut some of them up.

Edited April 7, 2021 by davecttr

[Son of Anarchy]

43 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The  Maritime and Coastguard Agency control search and rescue helicopters which are privately owned and run but contracted to the MCA and bear the MCA colour scheme and logo. Those are the ones that would airlift you from the ship. If you are in a remote location etc etc ashore it would be an air ambulance which are I believe charity funded but don't have the equipment or training to do a winch lift from a ship.

 

The onboard medical team will decide on the best course of action and the patients needs should be paramount. A helicopter evacuation is the last resort as it is dangerous. I remember passengers complaining that the top decks were emptied and the upper deck cabins as well. Informing them that they really did not want to be engulfed by blazing fuel and wreckage if the helicopter crashed. It did not shut some of them up.

A few years ago on Oceana we were kicked out of our cabin about 10:30 am due to a helicopter having to pick someone up.  I was not impressed.  Had a stinking hangover from too much Jaipur in Le Club!

Mind you, it did make me go to the buffet and have a semblance of breakfast to get over the previous night's grog.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, Son of Anarchy said:

A few years ago on Oceana we were kicked out of our cabin about 10:30 am due to a helicopter having to pick someone up.  I was not impressed.  Had a stinking hangover from too much Jaipur in Le Club!

Mind you, it did make me go to the buffet and have a semblance of breakfast to get over the previous night's grog.

I bet the person being airlifted off wasnt impressed and am sure would have preferred a hangover and a semblance of a breakfast rather than be in the position he/she was . Let's hope they survived and all ended well.

[BrianI]

A few years ago we were on Aurora for a round trip USA/Canada cruise. At around 2am in the night we diverted to Brixham in Devon to offload a passenger. We stopped about a mile offshore and the lifeboat came out to meet us to take the person(s) ashore.

 

We slept peacefully during all this and only found out what had happened the next morning.

 

Brian

Edited April 7, 2021 by BrianI

[Snow Hill]

If you need a new passport don’t wait too long as it appears it could take up to 10 weeks to come through

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/apr/06/travellers-warned-of-up-to-10-week-wait-for-british-passports

[Dorset cruise fan]

I saw that report too but I'm waiting for a haircut before I get mine renewed otherwise I will be unrecognisable in the new passport 

[wowzz]

I  know it's a long way off, but the prices for these cruises look exorbitant compared to those for the cruises for 2022/23 released today. 

 

[MX-Drew]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

I  know it's a long way off, but the prices for these cruises look exorbitant compared to those for the cruises for 2022/23 released today. 

 

I agree but take into account reduced capacity, yes there are fewer crew but not by many (my guess), then maybe they don’t look so bad.

[zap99]

13 hours ago, Dorset cruise fan said:

I saw that report too but I'm waiting for a haircut before I get mine renewed otherwise I will be unrecognisable in the new passport 

Same here but don't renew too early. You now loose the remaining time. 

 

[jaydee6969]

A bit late to this thread, but just booked up 2 staycation cruises this morning.

 

4 nights on Britannia in July followed by Iona's maiden cruise.

 

Can not wait to get back on board!!

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, jaydee6969 said:

A bit late to this thread, but just booked up 2 staycation cruises this morning.

 

4 nights on Britannia in July followed by Iona's maiden cruise.

 

Can not wait to get back on board!!

Good to see you have something to look forward to on the high seas!

[jaydee6969]

42 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Good to see you have something to look forward to on the high seas!

Thank you, definitely to look forward too.  Apparently, so the wife tells me, since I have got off the phone to P&O, my entire mood has changed to a more positive tone.  One that has been missing for a few months.

 

Only 101 days to go, and first time in a suite too.  Managed to get a B4 grade minimum.

[peteukmcr]

Well to add to the choices available Virgin Voyages have now announced 3 & 4 night sailings in August on Scarlet Lady from Portsmouth 

[wowzz]

There is an interesting thread on the Princess forum "The corporate as to the future of  cruising" which reports on Carnival's latest stock broker briefing,  giving  details as to Carnival's current financial position, forward reservations etc. Worth a read.

Three points of immediate interest:

1.When Princess opened up bookings for their Seacation cruuses, it was their second ever busiest booking day in the UK. 

2. Initially it looks as if the Princess and P&O seacation cruises are going to have lots of space -  

"Our UK sailings and some of the other sailings are starting with less than 50% occupancy, but that will ramp up pretty quickly as we make certain that the execution is in place and going well."

3. Carnival are unable to privately purchase Covid vaccine, so, in effect, the crew will continue to be unvaccinated for the forseeable future. 

[Bertie Doe]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

3. Carnival are unable to privately purchase Covid vaccine, so, in effect, the crew will continue to be unvaccinated for the foreseeable future. 

Can anyone do the maths for me on this one. Let's assume a ship, normal passenger capacity 2500 has been reduced to 1000 for seacation cruises.

According to the following article, the Astra vaccine is 76% effective and increasing to 82% after the 2nd jab.

Q1.Does this mean that 18% of vaccinated passengers, could get infected from one of the crew?

Q2. If all passengers and crew are tested before embarkation, does this reduce the chances of infection to zero?

https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-confirms-protection-against-severe-disease-hospitalisation-and-death-in-the-primary-analysis-of-phase-iii-trials.html

[davecttr]

20 minutes ago, Bertie Doe said:

Can anyone do the maths for me on this one. Let's assume a ship, normal passenger capacity 2500 has been reduced to 1000 for seacation cruises.

According to the following article, the Astra vaccine is 76% effective and increasing to 82% after the 2nd jab.

Q1.Does this mean that 18% of vaccinated passengers, could get infected from one of the crew?

Q2. If all passengers and crew are tested before embarkation, does this reduce the chances of infection to zero?

https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-confirms-protection-against-severe-disease-hospitalisation-and-death-in-the-primary-analysis-of-phase-iii-trials.html

Q1 - yes

Q2 - no

 

With lots of qualifications of course.

Q1 - They could also get infected from one of the passengers who is showing no symptoms and passes the pre cruise check but has COVID and starts shedding virus when aboard. As the crew will be tested at regular intervals they have a high probability of not having the disease.

 

Q2 - the chances of infection can never be zero, for example you are watching embarkation from your balcony. There is a minute chance some viral particles wafted by the breeze could infect you. Just like when going to the shops.

 

If someone aboard is infected what are your chances of being near enough to them for long enough to be infected?. Observing social distancing and mask wearing, hand washing, only using your bathroom etc, avoiding crowded venues, spend a lot of time on your balcony.

 

You will probably find the chance of infection is similar to getting killed or maimed while travelling to Southampton?

Edited April 9, 2021 by davecttr

[yorkshirephil]

40 minutes ago, Bertie Doe said:

Can anyone do the maths for me on this one. Let's assume a ship, normal passenger capacity 2500 has been reduced to 1000 for seacation cruises.

According to the following article, the Astra vaccine is 76% effective and increasing to 82% after the 2nd jab.

Q1.Does this mean that 18% of vaccinated passengers, could get infected from one of the crew?

Q2. If all passengers and crew are tested before embarkation, does this reduce the chances of infection to zero?

https://www.astrazeneca.com/media-centre/press-releases/2021/covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca-confirms-protection-against-severe-disease-hospitalisation-and-death-in-the-primary-analysis-of-phase-iii-trials.html

There is so much we still do not understand about covid, we are only just learning how the vaccine is working in the general population, more will become apparent as we come out of lockdown. It is not really about the maths or statistics, just because you have been vaccinated doesn't mean you won't get covid regardless of effectiveness even if you have antibodies.  We do not know whether you can be a carrier even if you are not ill with covid, so passengers could still become infected by other passengers. The cruise lines are probably doing the best they can with what they have to reduce the chances of anybody getting infected, however there is always a risk, even if greatly reduced. 

[Bertie Doe]

16 minutes ago, davecttr said:

 

You will probably find the chance of infection is similar to getting killed or maimed while travelling to Southampton?

Thanks Dave, that's quite reassuring. I guess the cruise lines will be going overboard with all the cleaning and health protocols in place. Another advantage of the round-Britain cruises, will be the avoidance of air travel, where you're flying in a metal test-tube. I'm not sure how effective the air filters are .. 🤐

[Bertie Doe]

1 minute ago, yorkshirephil said:

The cruise lines are probably doing the best they can with what they have to reduce the chances of anybody getting infected, however there is always a risk, even if greatly reduced. 

I think these seacation trips should be free - heck, we're guinea pigs.